1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to user interfaces, and more specifically to a method, system, and program for enabling a selectable item to be selected if a displayed pointer is in proximity of the selectable item.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphical user interfaces and pointing devices have greatly enhanced the usability and ease of use of computers and computer software, thereby increasing a typical user""s efficiency and productivity. For example, pointing devices and displayed menu items enable a user to easily navigate through functions in an application program by merely moving a cursor controlled by a pointing device over a selectable item and xe2x80x9cclickingxe2x80x9d the pointing device, such as a button on a mouse, to make the selection. Likewise, merely moving a cursor over a hyperlink and selecting the hyperlink easily gets the desired linked document.
Controlling a cursor by moving a pointing device, e.g., a mouse, joy stick, light pen, and stylus, and making a selection when the cursor is over the selectable item is indeed convenient for most users in most environments.
However, some users may have physical or mental limitations that makes it difficult to position a cursor using a pointing device directly over a selectable item. For example, there are some physically challenged individuals who have more difficulty than others in using their hand and eye coordination to make fine motor movements to move the cursor over a relatively small selectable item. In some conditions, the hand may shake to such an extent that a cursor can not be positioned within the boundaries of the selectable item. In other conditions, a physically challenged user may not be able to stop movement of the cursor precisely on top of a selectable item. In addition, some vision impaired users may have difficulty in discerning the boundaries of a selectable item over which the cursor must be positioned.
Even for all users, having to position a mouse pointer or other pointer directly over a selectable item, including hyperlinks in a Web page, is inconvenient, tedious, and more time consuming than it need be. In addition, in some computing environments today, the typical user may have the same difficulties as the physically challenged users have been experiencing. For example, as the use of pervasive devices, such as hand held computing devices including palm pilots and telephony devices, increases; the typical user, with no apparent physical challenges, may now indeed experience difficulties in making selections upon the small screens of these computing devices. As these devices are used xe2x80x9con the movexe2x80x9d, i.e., in cars, walking, etc., it becomes even more difficult to focus one""s eye""s on the screen in order to make a selection directly over a selectable item.
It is therefore desirable to increase the accessibility of user interfaces not only for physically challenged users, but for all users in the various computing environments.
It is therefore an object of this invention to enable a selectable item to be selected when a displayed cursor is in proximity of the selectable item.
Embodiments including a system, method and program enable the focus on a selectable item, such as a menu item, desktop icon, hyperlink, etc., to change based on proximity of the cursor. The selectable item is chosen by hitting enter or pressing the mouse button, or by utilizing other known selection means. In a first embodiment, the region of clicking or hitting enter for a selectable item is associated with an area surrounding the displayed cursor. Whenever a portion of the area surrounding the cursor moves over a portion of the selectable item, the item can be selected upon a mouse click or other selection means. In another embodiment, the displayed region or window or page is divided up into non-overlapping regions among the selectable items. When the cursor moves into one of the non-overlapping regions, the item associated with that region would be selected if a selection means were to be utilized.
In yet another embodiment, focus is changed to an item if a cursor moves toward it. As such, the direction of movement of the cursor predicts the item the user is moving towards. The item then becomes selectable.
Although an item is also selectable when a cursor is positioned over the item, as is known in the art, the term xe2x80x9cproximityxe2x80x9d is used herein to refer to those positions of a cursor which are outside the edges or boundary of the displayed selectable item, itself.